Jakarta inundated by heavy traffic jams

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Traffic ground to a complete halt along Jakarta's main roads on Tuesday, mainly due to a heavy downpour that fell for several hours in the afternoon.

"What a horrible traffic jam. I don't know why this happens, I guess it's because of the rain," one motorist, Koen Soetjahja, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday night.

He said he had left his office in the Slipi area of Central Jakarta at 5 p.m., but at 8:30 p.m. he was still on Jl. Fatmawati in South Jakarta.

"It usually takes me about 30 minutes to reach Fatmawati from my office," he said.

Roads around the Blok M area, including those in front of the Attorney General's Office, Jl. Leuser, near Pertamina Hospital, Radio Dalam and Jl. Fatmawati, were in complete disarray.

Motorists and public bus drivers were no longer heeding traffic signals.

A tree fell on Jl. Leuser, causing motorists to drive slowly along the road.

Heavy traffic jams also hit Jl. Gatot Subroto, Jl. Sudirman, Mampang and Cawang.

"I don't know why this (tie-up) is happening. I don't see any floods and all the traffic lights are still on," said Tuti, who took a taxi from Senayan, Central Jakarta, to Ragunan in the south part of the city.

Traffic was also disrupted around the Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan, which was mostly attributed to large puddles along Jl. Asia Afrika in front of the Mulia Hotel and Plaza Senayan.

Kohar, a staff member at the city police information center, confirmed that there were numerous heavy traffic jams throughout the city on Tuesday, adding that the tie-ups were caused by the heavy downpour that fell several hours before.

"It's always like this whenever there is heavy rain in Jakarta," he said, adding that the areas most affected by traffic jams were Jl. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman, the Gajah Mada area, Cawang, Kalideres, Tomang and Ciputat.